State and Church in the European Union, second edition 2005

Preface

In its Constitution for Europe the European Union promises to guarantee religious freedom and non-discrimination, to respect religious diversity and to maintain a dialogue with churches, religious communities and non-confessional organisations. At the same time the Union will respect the status of these churches and organisations under Member State's law. The European Union has become aware of the importance of religion. The Union draws inspiration from the religious inheritance of Europe.

With the accession of several new Member States to the European Union, the Union is enriched by new experiences and different needs concerning religion. This is reflected in the progressive development of the civil ecclesiastical law of Member States.

The second edition of this book responds to these developments. It gives an account of the civil ecclesiastical law in all the Member States and in the European Union itself. The contributions follow a similar structure in order to facilitate the comparison between the various systems.

All contributions to the first edition have been updated.

Table of contents

Rik Torfs, State and Church in Belgium (p. 9-34)

Jiří Rajmund Tretera, State and Church in the Czech Republic (p. 35-54)

Inger Dübeck, State and Church in Denmark (p. 55-76)

Gerhard Robbers, State and Church in Germany (p. 77-94)

Merilin Kiviorg, State and Church in Estonia (p. 95-114)

Charalambos Papastathis, State and Church in Greece (p. 115-138)

Iván C. Ibán, State and Church in Spain (p. 139-155)

Brigitte Basdevant‑Gaudemet, State and Church in France (p. 157-186)

James Casey, State and Church in Ireland (p. 187-208)

Silvio Ferrari, State and Church in Italy (p. 209-230)

Achilles Emilianides, State and Church in Cyprus (p. 231-252)

Ringolds Balodis, State and Church in Latvia (p. 253-280)

Jolanta Kuznecoviene, State and Church in Lithuania (p. 283-303)

Alexis Pauly, State and Church in Luxembourg (p. 305-322)

Balázs Schanda, State and Church in Hungary (p. 323-345)

Ugo Mifsud Bonnici, State and Church in Malta (p. 347-365)

Sophie C. van Bijsterveld, State and Church in the Netherlands (p. 367-390)

Richard Potz, State and Church in Austria (p. 391-418)

Michał Rynkowski, State and Church in Poland (p. 419-438)

Vitalino Canas, State and Church in Portugal (p. 439-467)

Lovro Šturm, State and Church in Slovenia (p. 469-490)

Michaela Moravčíková, State and Church in the Slovak Republic (p. 491-518)

Markku Heikkilä, Jyrki Knuutila, Martin Scheinin, State and Church in Finland (p. 519-536)